Chapter 65
In the break room, administrative employees huddled over floral tea, voices lowered to conspiratorial whispers.
"Is it true our new Ms. Hamilton was just a stay-at-home mom before this?" The attendance coordinator leaned in, eyes bright with curiosity.
"Absolutely. HR circulated her resume everywhere," replied another with a dismissive flick of her wrist. "Years away from the workforce, then suddenly installed as Chief Engineer. What was Mr. Bennett thinking?"
Heidi approached with practiced timing, inserting herself into their circle with an expression of innocent concern. "That's not fair. Perhaps Ms. Hamilton has exceptional qualities we don't know about?"
Her faux defense accomplished exactly what she intended—fanning the flames of speculation.
"Exceptional qualities? I heard she forgot her own children's birthday. How dedicated could she be to her work?"
"Exactly. Mr. Bennett's obviously padding her resume. Why else would a newcomer receive an invitation to the International Neuroscience Alliance? Our company specializes in AI and hardware—what connection does that even have?"
The phrase "padding resume" triggered knowing looks around the table as Heidi stirred her drink, hiding a satisfied smile behind her cup.
"Arthur?" She suddenly straightened, eyes widening toward the doorway.
Arthur passed through the hallway without breaking stride, barely acknowledging their presence with a fleeting glance.
Heidi immediately pursued him, her expression transforming into a portrait of distress. "Arthur, don't listen to their gossip! They're saying Caroline used connections, that Mr. Bennett arranged that conference invitation... I tried defending her, but they wouldn't listen..."
Her words tumbled out with calculated urgency—the perfect performance of a concerned friend.
Arthur's brow furrowed, Gavin's dismissive comment about "gaining exposure" reinforcing his irritation.
"Leave her be," he replied coldly. "Her problems are her own to solve."
As Heidi watched his retreating figure with barely concealed triumph, she turned to find Frank standing behind her, his face darkened with unmistakable displeasure.
How long had he been there?
She nodded politely before hurrying after Arthur, leaving Frank glowering in her wake.
Back in the break room, the administrative staff resumed their commentary.
"See? Even Mr. Windsor has that attitude..."
A thunderous crash silenced them as a thick experimental logbook slammed onto the table, sending coffee splattering across the surface.
Frank towered over them, his normally reserved demeanor replaced with cold fury.
"Padding resume? Connections?" He flipped open the logbook, jabbing his finger at dense charts and meticulous handwritten notes. "Open your eyes and look!"
"These are seventy-two hour real-time monitoring curves. From 3 AM to 7 AM during the critical peak values, Ms. Hamilton was right here in the lab. Where were you all? Sleeping comfortably in your beds?"
He turned another page with controlled violence. "Seventeen centrifuge calibration records. Four hours of repeated adjustments for a one-in-a-million margin of error. Every page bears Ms. Hamilton's signature. Could any of you manage this level of precision? Would you even try?"
The break room fell deathly silent as Frank gathered the logbook and stormed out.
After his departure, one trembling employee reached for napkins to clean the table.
"My God," she whispered to her colleague. "She's really something, getting even a technical guy like Mr. Morris to defend her like that."
The administrative staff, still shaken, huddled closer together.
"What was that about? Why did Morris explode like that?"
"We just made a few harmless comments. This Ms. Hamilton must be quite the operator—just days here and she's got technical guys eating from her hand."
"Exactly. Boost your resume, find champions around the office—classic playbook."
Meanwhile, a livestream of the International Neuroscience Alliance conference played on screens throughout the technical department.
Most non-technical staff ignored what seemed an esoteric academic presentation with minimal relevance to Zenith's core business.
Suddenly, an elderly but commanding voice filled the room, "I'd particularly like to highlight the work of an exceptionally young researcher."
It was Ruben—the renowned titan of domestic neuroscience!
The room fell silent as everyone turned toward the screen.
The white-haired scientist faced the camera with blazing intensity. "Her 'Glial Cell Microenvironment Simulation System' has achieved unprecedented success—raising pre-clinical conversion rates to eighty-nine percent! This shatters barriers our field has faced for decades. I present to you, from Zenith Technologies Ltd, Dr. Hamilton!"
Two seconds of stunned silence followed before the technical department erupted.
"Dr. Hamilton? From our company?"
"Wait... Dr. Hamilton... could it be... Ms. Hamilton?"
"It IS Ms. Hamilton! I've seen sketches of that model! Caroline Hamilton is Dr. Hamilton!"
Frank's face flushed with vindicated excitement as he slammed his fist into his palm. "I knew it! I knew it!"
In Gavin's office next door, Arthur waited impatiently while Gavin retrieved archived documents. Heidi sat across from him, about to break the awkward silence when excited shouts of "Dr. Hamilton!" filtered through the walls.
Arthur's eyebrow twitched slightly. 'Has Gavin recruited someone new?'
He completely failed to connect this familiar surname with Caroline. In his mind, she remained categorized as a woman whose existence revolved around domesticity—certainly not someone with doctoral credentials.
Heidi hesitated momentarily before responding with practiced casualness, "Probably some new scientist. There are so many Dr. Hamiltons these days."
With that dismissal, Arthur's fleeting curiosity evaporated.
Caroline was returning to her lab with a glass of water when she saw herself magnified on the screen, alongside "Zenith Technologies Ltd, Caroline Hamilton."
Around her, thunderous applause erupted as colleagues stared in shock and newfound admiration.
She acknowledged them with a simple nod, her composure unbroken by the attention.
"Ms. Hamilton!" Frank rushed over, vibrating with excitement. "Aren't you thrilled? Dr. Flores himself praised your work!"
Caroline's smile was subtle but genuine. "It's too early to celebrate," she replied. "When this system is actually implemented, when patients suffering from neural damage begin to heal—that's when we'll open the champagne."